I just towed my son's new project truck ('53 chevy) home today and started working on it. He bought it from my brother in law and I'm pretty sure it was running ok when parked. He had brake problems so he parked it and let it sit for about 10 years. I pulled the plugs and sprayed fogging oil like you use on boat motors when you winterize them. I used my long breaking bar and with some leg muscle, I was able to turn the engine a little. After turning it several turns, it finally got loose enough to turn with just arm muscle and the breaking bar. I felt like the engine was turning ok so I started draining the oil to change it. I drained about 2 quarts of green anti-freeze water out before the oil started draining and then some mucky slush. It's a straight 6 and may be the original engine. Not sure. The radiator still has water in it so I'm assuming the water that I drained out was originally just left in the block. So, I guess I'm going to have to pull the head and do some inspecting. What should I look for besides an obvious cracked head or bad gasket? Thanks, Steve
Have you pulled the valve cover yet? Any rust on the rockers or push rods, etc? In 89 I bought a 55.1 Chevy pickup that had set up for 11-12 years. It had a 235 that was stuck, and I drained about 1/2 gallon of anti-freeze before the milky oil came out. The inside of the valve cover, the rockers and push rods were covered with rust. In this case the head was cracked in one of the valve seats, and the rings on that piston were rusted causing a deep groove in the cylinder. Hopefully yours won't be as bad.
pressure check cooling system before doing anything major, remember always start with the cheap and easy first.
Very likely a steel head gasket that gave up due to corrosion. Got to tear it down. Sorry dude. Will end up as a good father son project anyway.
X2 Get a radiator pump tester and pump that sucker up, look for outside leaks. Mark dip stick and see if it rises..............
like the other guys said start tearing it down a little further and your find more out. also you should of changed the oil before you started to try and turn it over you might of caused more damage
I have pulled the valve cover and there was just a little rust on top of the rocker arm at the back but not much. I don't think the engine had been run with the water in oil since the oil wasn't milky. It was like antifreeze water draining and then the oil drained and some sludge. The hood and breather were in place and I'm pretty sure all of the time. I don't think my brother in law ever worked on it. Thanks for the help.